Fineout, 41, of Boyne City, sent an email a couple of weeks ago to his mother, Barbara Fineout, of Petoskey. He wanted golf balls.

Fineout is a U.S. Air Force tech sergeant in the 23rd Equipment Maintenance Squadron from Moody Air Force base in Valdosta, Ga. He currently is deployed to Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan -- attached to the 451st Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron -- and expects to have a little free time on the Fourth of July.

See, somebody left behind a few golf clubs at the military base, but no balls.

"He wants to have a long drive competition," said Barbara, laughing.

There are a lot of troops and airmen at the base who want to join the party, so Barbara jumped to it.

She thought about seeking donations from area residents, but realized there may not be sufficient time to collect enough golf balls and ship them before the coming holiday weekend. Then she thought about the Boyne resorts.

Barbara called Boyne Mountain and quickly received a response.

"We're happy to do it -- anything to lift the troops' spirits on the Fourth of July holiday," said Erin Ernst, Boyne resorts spokeswoman.

The company collected and donated about 1,500 golf balls between Boyne Mountain and Highlands resorts and also paid to ship to Afghanistan the five boxes it took to contain them.

Fineout told his mother that the planned long drive competition will let him and his fellow military members forget why they're overseas, even if only for five minutes, she said.

That's because there's no re-using the balls. But that's not because Fineout and the others at Kandahar Air Base intend to destroy them.

"He said 'We can only use them once because we're going to hit them toward Pakistan and we can't go get them,'" Barbara said.

Meanwhile, Fineout's brother, Ron Fineout, got together two lefty drivers and one right-handed one to send to Afghanistan, as well. The clubs came from the pro shop at West Shore Golf and Country Club in Grosse Ile, where he works as the assistant professional.

"Those guys are over there sacrificing for us, so it's the least we can do," Ron Fineout said. "It's not easy being away from their families."

Also, Barbara said anyone in the community who wishes to donate more golf balls for those at Kandahar Airfield is encouraged to bring them to Challenge Mountain, in Boyne City, where Fineout's cousin works.

Barbara said her son promised to email home photographs from the event and she, in turn, will share them with the News-Review following the holiday weekend. Watch for them next week on the newspaper's web site or in print editions.

Fineout's wife of 17 years is Theresa Fineout and the couple have a son together, Brandon, 8.